Clemson is the overwhelming preseason ACC favorite

The 2018 ACC preseason media poll likes the chances of a rematch in the ACC Championship Game.

Clemson is picked as the favorite to win the conference for a fourth-straight season. The Tigers are the big-time favorites both in the Atlantic Division and in the ACC title game, where a hypothetical December matchup would be against Miami.

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Clemson beat Miami 38-3 to advance to the College Football Playoff a year ago.

Atlantic Division

Clemson got all but three first-place votes in the division. NC State got two and Florida State got one, though the Seminoles are projected to finish second in the conference. The Atlantic may be one of the two or three deepest divisions in college football. Six Atlantic teams made bowl games in 2017.

Coastal Division

The Coastal is pretty lopsided as well, but it’s not as lopsided as the Atlantic. Virginia Tech got 16 first-place votes while Georgia Tech got eight. Duke and North Carolina each got a first-place vote. The North Carolina vote is interesting given that the Tar Heels are picked to finish sixth in the division. Maybe Larry Fedora’s linking of the decline of football to the decline of America resonated with a voter?